


Uneven Days

by bryar6



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Douxie dies, F/M, Gen, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Major character death - Freeform, Mentioned other characters - Freeform, Suicide Pact, Whump, i cannot reread this because i will cry, implied Zouxie, no beta and only minor reviewing so there may be small errors, oh well, switches perspectives once, this is very heavy and kinda dark so just be aware, warnings are described a little more in notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:20:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27071107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bryar6/pseuds/bryar6
Summary: Alternate Ending - The resulting events if Douxie had actually stayed dead in the end of Wizards and how his two closest companions proceed(or, rather, don't). Archie and Zoe's perspectives and somewhat unresolved issues regarding the Arcane Order.
Relationships: Archie & Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan & Nari, Archie & Zoe (Tales of Arcadia), Implied relationship between Zoe and Douxie
Comments: 12
Kudos: 16





	Uneven Days

**Author's Note:**

> This is the most serious and angst filled piece I've written in a very long time. It made me hurt to write it. It is not happy. It does not end happy. 
> 
> Warnings: implied suicide/suicide pact (no gore or real description). Minor description of a dead character.

Archie keeps his ear pressed to the chest of his familiar for what feels like an eternity. Douxie’s body is still and silent, bent at an odd angle and crumpled. Claire sobs nearby and quiet whispers pass through the little crowd. Nari touches Douxie’s arm, shaking her head sadly. The stone in his staff is dark. 

“Nari, please,” Archie begs, his paws planted firmly on Douxie’s chest. “Please do something, your magic, can’t you try…”

“I am so sorry. There is nothing I can do.” Nari closes her eyes and a green glow pulses from her outstretched palm. “His soul is no longer in this plane.” 

Tears streak down Nari’s face and Archie curses his forsaken genetics that keep him from being able to cry. Archie lets out a long, mournful yowl instead. It’s a heart-wrenching sound that splits the early morning air and seems to echo off the crumbled remains of Camelot. His yowl speaks of his immeasurable pain, of his fear and terror and worry. He wants to get revenge. He wants to lie down and wait until the darkness takes him, too. He wants to feel Douxie’s gentle hands stroking his fur one more time. 

But his familiar’s body chills by the second, and before he knows it, Douxie’s body crumbles to ash right beneath him. His paws land on a large, heavy grimoire engraved with runes. Archie falls onto it, his yowls dying down to nothing. The ash scatters in the wind and tangles itself in his coat. The last pieces of his best friend. His familiar. His brother. 

Nari strokes Archie’s fur gently, curling up beside him. Claire joins them on her knees, placing Douxie’s staff beside them. 

“I can’t believe…” she breathes, but says nothing more. The small group of guardians mourns their lost protector for several long, sorrowful minutes. Slowly they begin to gather their things. Nari lifts Archie from the grimoire and holds him. Claire takes the book and the staff and they begin their short trek out of the forest, returning to Arcadia. None of them speak, eyes cast downwards. 

Archibald feels numb and senseless to even the warmth of the sun on his fur. It doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing does. Everything has been taken away from him. Archie feels like a celestial body that had orbited a star all it’s life, only to have it suddenly wrenched away from him. He’s now purposeless. Directionless. The gravity is gone and there is nothing to keep him securely in place.

They return to the Lake household. Nari holds Archie and they sit on the porch in shocked silence as Claire places a phone call from the steps. 

“Hi Zoe. I am so, so sorry about Hex Tech…I know. Yeah. So, I wanted to ask if you could meet us at Jim’s house? Yeah, it’s right down the street from mine...He’s...we can talk about that when you get here. Yeah. Okay. Bye.” Fresh tears spring on her face and she wipes them away harshly. She turns and walks back into the house leaving the familiar and Nari to watch the street from the porch swing. It’s peacefully quiet, in a haunting way. 

Archie stays as still as possible, as if willing himself to become stone like a troll. Nari doesn’t move beside him except for a slight hum of her magic. Five minutes pass and an old car tears down the street and screeches to a stop in front of the Lake house. A pink haired woman leaps out as soon as the car is parked haphazardly, the oversized sweatshirt she wears flapping in the wind. 

“Archie! Where’s Douxie?” she calls, practically sprinting up the stairs. Archie meets her eyes and says nothing, knowing the look will say it all. Zoe reaches out and grasps his staff, holding it close to her chest. “No. No no no no. Is he inside, or, or just around back-”

“Hisirdoux is dead,” Nari says bluntly, new tears crossing her cheeks. “He died saving us.”

Zoe becomes angry, her face tense and animated. “He isn’t. He can’t be. Douxie! Just tell me where he went, I need to see him again, I- this can’t-” her voice cracks and silent sobs wrack her small frame. The anger drops away to reveal grief. “No. No. Douxie.” 

Zoe slips to her knees, gripping the staff with white knuckles. She shakes her head and cries hard, not even bothering to disguise her pain or tears. Her magic hangs thick in the air, clogging it with a choking sense of fury and sorrow. Archie jumps down and comes to rest his head in her lap, just sitting beside her. They share the loss together, silent. He was everything to them and more. Archie knows nothing he could say would make a difference anyways. 

He remembers distinctly the pact they had made, years and years ago. That if one of them were to fall, they’d tidy up their lives with a lie and go quietly into the night. Archie thought it was something they’d never follow through with, but now, more than anything, he wishes to follow where Douxie has gone. There’s little left for him here. After a thousand years, he has lived and learned and experienced all he’s ever needed to. He’ll say his final goodbyes and go, like a candle snuffed out. The thought of it gives him unbelievable relief. 

“Archie. What do we do now?” Zoe whispers, barely audible. 

“I think it’s our time. I know the Order is on the loose and there’s much to be done with Nari, but it’s not our place to step in. Not anymore. The new guardians of Arcadia will take up the mantle.” Archie nods solemnly. “I’ll speak to Claire and arrange for them to watch over Nari.” 

Nari listens carefully on the porch, studying the pair. “Where will you go?” 

“Away, Nari. It will be okay,” Archie soothes, tipping his head. “You take care of yourself and the others for us. They’ll need your strength.” 

“Oh,” she says, and falls quiet. A hush falls as the day breaks in warm colors, a soothing, beautiful sky on a morning their friend would never get. 

***************************

Zoe slips one of Douxie’s old leather jackets on and locks her apartment behind her for the last time. A note is pinned to the door in her messy handwriting. She slips the key into an envelope and slides it into a mailbox in the lobby, waving at the man seated at the front desk as she shoulders out. 

She has tied up all her loose ends. Her jobs, the store, Douxie’s band, his will, her will, and whatever other things she’s taken care of over the past day. There were a lot. She’s so tired. And her heart hurts. She’s felt numb ever since that moment she realized. She’s ready. She’s spent long enough on this Earth, and without him keeping her tied here, she finds no other reasons to stay. It’s far past time that she lets go. And she welcomes it with open arms. 

Archie is waiting outside of the bookstore, his wings folded neatly at his side. He falls into step beside her wordlessly and they begin their long walk into the forest. As they walk, Zoe recalls a great many memories. 

She thinks of Douxie’s smiles, his laughter and his jokes. His shining hazel eyes. The sound of his voice as he sang. The way he was always brushing his hair from his face and how he fussed with it in the mornings. His playful manner, his flirting and teasing. The way he always looked more peaceful in sleep than he ever was awake. His blinding blue magic. His charm and his love for music, the way he moved as he played onstage. The way he smiled at her like she was his everything. He was her everything. 

Zoe aches with the memory, feeling as though someone has split her ribcage with a hot knife. Nothing has ever hurt this badly. She couldn’t have imagined the pain. And she knows she can’t bear it much longer. She’s glad they’d agreed to the pact, no matter how dire it may have seemed at the time. It’s the only thing they have left to do. 

After a few hours, Zoe finds a small, mossy clearing in the woods and stops walking. Archie pulls up short beside her, letting out a low sigh. 

“So this is it. What did you do with the grimoire?” Archie asks, following as she traces runes into the ground. 

“I gave it to Claire.” Zoe focuses intently on her task, arranging rocks along the edges of the rune. 

“Did you ever look inside?” 

“No. I never felt the need to. There’s nothing in there we need that we don’t already have.” Zoe looks up and meets him with soft eyes. 

“Nor did I,” Archie agrees. She’s glad they both felt the same way. There was nothing in that book that would have changed anything for the two of them. She continues to work on the grand spell, stepping back and drawing runes in the air, saying the incantations under her breath. A pinkish magic flows from her fingers and into a circle about twenty feet wide. It’s a beautifully complex spell. 

“There.” Zoe steps away and admires her work. The last light of day shines down onto the clearing, illuminating her magic and casting a glowing hue.“This is probably my biggest spell ever. Luckily it won’t matter how much magic I spend on it.” 

It’s a spell generally considered forbidden. Created centuries ago by wizards tired of living out their lives and wanting to go easily, it was painless and straightforward. Merlin would have looked down on this behavior, but she didn’t care. And clearly Archie doesn’t either. His face is set firm. The shapeshifter moves to stand beside her and walks with her as they enter the spell. A strange tingling feeling sets into her skin, prickling with the energy of magic to come. 

Zoe stops just shy of the center where there is a space for her feet. Archie takes his place opposite of her. The two meet eyes, sharing an unspoken emotion that could never be put into words. 

“Well, it’s been a good run,” Archie says, holding himself proudly. He adjusts his glasses. “I’m ready.”

“I’ll see you on the other side,” Zoe says, a last determined smile playing on her face, calm as ever. She murmurs the final words of the spell.

A flash of impossibly bright magic illuminates the clearing and the two figures are gone in an instant, as if they’d never been there at all. Any trace of the spell is gone, a pink glow dissipating into the surrounding forest. The last rays of light recede from the clearing at the same time, darkness filling the imprints in the grass where they had just stood. 

A comfortable silence falls.

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it this far, thank you for reading and I am sorry for making you endure that pain. To make up for it, there's fluff coming, I promise.


End file.
